Defects in banded spherulites of polymers

In order to investigate the detailed structure of a banded spherulite observed by polarized light microscopy, we develop a new image processing technique that can visualize defects (band defects) in the concentric bands and determine the growing directions of crystals everywhere in a spherulite. This technique is applied to a banded spherulite of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and reveals that the spherulite has many defects (colliding defects), on which crystals collide with neighboring ones. It is found that the band defects are included in the colliding defects. The number of colliding defects increases linearly with the radius to give a constant density. Between the defects, the orientations of crystals are well correlated to form a coherent area. On the basis of these findings, a mechanism of the formation of the coherent band pattern is discussed. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.